Medical supplies, staff in short supply in Jamaica, Cuba in wake of record storm

Jamaica plans to set up field hospitals in five western parishes after Hurricane Melissa caused extensive damage to health facilities, Health Minister Christopher Tufton has said.

Local media reports from Friday quote Tufton as saying that additional support was needed for doctors and nurses, many of whom were already stretched to the limit.

Power and water services remain disrupted across many areas due to damaged infrastructure and fuel stations in the west of the country have reported low or no supplies, Transport Minister Daryl Vaz said.

Authorities, with support from international partners and organisations, are working to accelerate clean-up operations and distribute humanitarian aid quickly.

Jamaican medical associations urged doctors to volunteer at the hospital in Black River, a heavily affected southern community, to relieve colleagues who had been working continuously in the damaged facility for days, the Nationwide portal reported.